BROADCAST VIDEO STANDARDS:

Four broadcast and video standards and recording formats are commonly in
use around the world: NTSC, PAL, SECAM and HDTV. Because these
standards and formats are not easily interchangeable, it is important to know
where your multimedia project will be used. A video cassette recorded in the
U.S will not play on a television set in a European country, even though the
recording method and style of the cassette is “ VHS.” Like wise, tapes
recorded in European PAL or SECAM formats will not play back on an
NTSC video cassette recorder. Each system is based on a different standard
that defines the way information is encoded to produce the electronic signal
that ultimately creates a television picture. Multi format VCRs can play back
all three standards but typically cannot dub from one standard to another;
dubbing between standards still requires high-end, specialized equipment.

NTSC: NATIONAL TELEVISION STANDARDS

COMMITTEE
The U.S, Japan, and many other countries use a system for broadcasting and
displaying video that is based up on the specifications set forth by the 1952
National Television Standards Committee. These standards define a method
for encoding information in to the electronic signal that ultimately creates a
television picture. As specified by the NTSC standard, a single frame of
video is made up of 525 horizontal scan lines drawn onto the inside face of a
phosphor-coated picture tube every 1/30th of a sec by a fast moving electron
beam. The drawing occurs so fast that your eye perceives the image as table.
The electron beam actually makes two passes as it draws a single video
frame, first laying down all the odd-numbered lines, then all the even-
numbered lines. Each of these passes (which happen at a rate of 60 per sec,
or 60Hz) paints a field. The process of building a single frame from two
fields is called interlacing, a technique that helps to prevent flicker on
television screens. Remember that computer monitors use progressive-scan
technologies and draw the lines of an entire frame in a single pass, with out
interlacing them.
PAL: PHASE ALTERNATE LINE
The PAL system is used in U.K, Europe, Australia and South Africa. PAL is
an integrated method of adding colors to a black-and-white television signal
that paints 625 lines at a frame rate of 25 frames per sec. Like NTSC, the
even and odd lines are interlaced, each field taking 1/50th of a sec to draw
(50Hz).

SECAM: SEQUENTIAL COLOR AND MEMORY

The SECAM system is used in France, Russia, and a few other countries.
Although SECAM is a 625-line, 50Hz system, it differs greatly from both
the NTSC and the PAL color systems in its basic technology and broadcast
method. Often, however, TV sets sold in Europe utilize dual components
and can handle both PAL and SECAM systems.

HDTV: HIGH DEFINITION TELEVISION

There are six video formats in the ATSCD (Advanced Television Systems
Committee) TV standard that are “HDTV”. They are the 1080-line by 1920-
pixel formats at all picture rates (24, 30, 60 pictures per sec) and the 720-line
by 1280-pixel formats at these same picture rates. All of these formats have
a 16:9 Aspect Ratio.

HDTV provides high resolution in a 16:9 aspect ratio. This aspect ratio
allows the viewing of cinema scope panavision movies. There is a
contention between the broad cast and computer industries about whether to
use interlacing or progressive-scan technologies. The broadcast industries
has promulgated an ultra-high-resolution, 1920*1080 interlaced format to
become the corner stone of a new generation of high-end entertainment
centers, but the computer industry would like to settle on a 1280*720
progressive-scan system for HDTV. While the 1920*1080 provides more
pixels than the 1280*720 standard, the refresh rates are quite different. The
higher-resolution interlaced format delivers only half the picture every 1/60
of a sec and because of the interlacing on highly detailed images there is a
great deal of screen flicker at 30Hz. The computer people argue that the
picture quality at 1280*720 is superior and steady. Both formats have been
included in the HDTV standard by ATSC (Advanced Television Systems
Committee).